| In the notorious armies of the early | | | | height. They held tournaments to encourage |
| civilizations, good archers were great assets | | | | and test them for accuracy and precision. |
| and were usually used as the first offense. | | | | Soon after, they would train shooting arrows |
| Their arrows caused mass destruction on the | | | | while riding horses. And at a certain age, |
| battlefields and could topple large numbers. | | | | they would proceed to join the army.On the |
| Civilizations that held archers in high | | | | battlefield, archers are faced with enemies |
| regard in their armies were the Greeks, the | | | | from all sides. A technique where an archer |
| Persians, the Parthian, the Chinese and the | | | | shoots two arrows at one time would bring |
| Indian armies. The famous phrase 'a parting | | | | down the enemy's defenses. One arrow is shot |
| shot' actually originates from the a shooting | | | | on a high trajectory and the other at a lower |
| style wherein the rider turns in the saddle | | | | trajectory thus hitting the target on two |
| to shoot as he and his horse rode away from | | | | different angles. In addition, the |
| the enemy. This shot is called the 'Parthian | | | | development of the bodkin point gave their |
| shot.' Archers often rode on horseback and | | | | arrows the ability to penetrate deeper into |
| combined speed with close range like the | | | | the enemy's armor.Longbows require a lot of |
| mythological characters of Apollo and | | | | skill and training before being able to shoot |
| Odysseus that are depicted using bows and | | | | an arrow and hit a target. This training |
| arrows riding horses and chariots. Other | | | | took a lot of years. With the crossbow |
| archers are positioned in strategic places of | | | | however, anyone can shoot an arrow, although |
| height increasing accuracy and effectiveness | | | | a little training is needed to hit a target. |
| of the shot.In Medieval Europe, however, the | | | | This and the fact that the crossbow had the |
| archer's use in battle was not as significant | | | | same penetrating power and range of the |
| and predominant as myth has it. In reality, | | | | longbow, made it useful in the early |
| bowmen were one of the lowest paid soldiers | | | | civilizations up to today. Unfortunately, it |
| in the army and were often just trained | | | | takes a significant amount of time to reload |
| peasants. The bow and arrow were labeled as | | | | an arrow compared to the longbow.In centuries |
| lower class weapons because they were cheap | | | | after, the use of bows in the army became |
| to make compared to the very expensive armor | | | | obsolete with the development of firearms. |
| and swords that clad men-at-arms. This low | | | | Even when bows had a longer range and could |
| value made the bow a mere toy of the nobility | | | | reload faster than the first rifles, the |
| and peasants as well. The Vikings, however, | | | | penetrating power of a bullet and the minimal |
| saw the prowess of archery and made it one of | | | | training needed reigned supreme. In due |
| their foremost weapons in their expeditions | | | | time, guns and bullets would defeat the bow |
| throughout Western Europe in the 9th and 10th | | | | and arrow in range, accuracy, proficiency and |
| centuries.Following this example, the English | | | | in reload time. Because of archery's decline |
| had learned to appreciate and hold in high | | | | in popularity, the 16th century English |
| regard the power of the bow and arrow. In | | | | monarch mandated that every man of fighting |
| the Hundred Years' War, the English deployed | | | | age practice archery and Henry VIII banned |
| huge numbers of archers using English | | | | all sport except archery during Sundays. |
| Longbows. This strategy gave them tactical | | | | Their efforts to preserve this fighting style |
| dominance. Seeing this much success, archers | | | | helped archery survive until the present day. |
| were soon recruited and farming peasants | | | | In this day and age, archery is no longer a |
| started training since childhood. Each boy | | | | weapon of war but a sport that is a true test |
| was given and trained with a bow of his | | | | of precision and accuracy. |